Whanganui Women team keep winning Manawatu hockey, TCOB not so much

Lee Moir and his fellow TCOB team mates can create individual chances, but the passing in front of opposition's goals has been letting the side down in 2018.

The Whanganui Women's team are now the only unbeaten side with two wins in the Top 5 Championship group of the Manawatu Premier Reserve grade after their 4-0 victory over College B at the Twin Turfs on Saturday.

Coach Colleen Baylis had been expected a harder match than Whanganui's 2-1 win in Gonville during the first round in April, but that did not prove to be the case, as they moved to the top of the standings with two victories and a seven goal points differential with two matches remaining before the playoffs.

The goal scorers were Nicky Skedgwell, Kirsty Parsons, Jan Dixon and Georgia Matson.

College B had been on the bye the previous week, while High School Hockey Club Evergreens had Saturday off after winning their first up match with Athletic.

Athletic shook off their loss to defeat Massey Reserves 7-5 in a high scoring shootout.

After a break this weekend for all teams due to the school holidays and representative tournaments, Wanganui will then meet Athletic on July 21 at the Twin Turfs, followed by the bye, and then the Evergreens on August 4 at Gonville Domain, with the HSHC team being the only side to beat them so far in 2018.

Meanwhile, Tech College Old Boys are still trying to find the formula in the Premier Men's division after they came off the bye week for a 4-0 loss to second-placed High School Hockey Club A at Twin Turfs.

While a solid squad of 14 were able to go to Palmerston North, minus Tyler Nicoll-Hylton and Patrick Madder on Central Under 18 duties, they still conceded a soft goal in the first 30 seconds, followed by another from a short corner in the first quarter.

"It was very similar to two weeks ago," said senior player Calum Wilbur.

"We'd barely got going by that stage."

However, HSHC are a much stronger squad than the Massey team who also won 4-0 at Gonville in late June, and although TCOB conceded a goal each in the second and third quarter, they kept a clean sheet for the final period but good not convert their own opportunities.

"By the end of the game it was a much better game than it looked like it might have been in the first 10 minutes," said Wilbur.

TCOB have the players able to get them breakaways from one half to another, but the issue this winter has been the defenders pushing them wide and the pushing chain in front of the box not being good enough to force the goal

"Just very disjointed. It took to the fourth quarter to string a bunch of decent chances together," said Wilbur.

"That could have changed the game."

TCOB will also be on a break week this Saturday, followed by travelling to take on Palmerston North High School at the Twin Turfs on July 21.